UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION 4 

Mr. Brad Gane 

Chief, Ecological Services Section 

Coastal Resources Division 

ATLANTA FEDERAL CENTER 

61 FORSYTH STREET 

ATLANTA. GEORGIA 30303-8960 

FEB 2 9 2012 

Georgia Department of Natural Resources 

One Conservation Way 

Brunswick, Georgia 31520-8686 

Dear Mr. Gane: 

Thank you for your letter of February 9, 2012, requesting an extension to provide your Coastal Zone 

Management Act (CZMA) consistency concurrence or objection on the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency's national consistency determinations for re-issuance of two National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System general permits; the Vessel General Permit (VGP) and the Small Vessel General 

Permit (sVGP). In a letter dated December 12,2011, the EPA provided its "national consistency 

determinations" to you for review under section 307 of the CZMA. In that letter, the EPA anticipated 

your response within 60 days of receipt or that the EPA would presume concurrence. 

You indicated in your letter that you would be unable to complete your CZMA consistency 

determinations until the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division 

(EPD) issues Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 certifications for the draft VGP and sVGP, as such 

certifications may contain conditions that could substantially modify the permits. As your letter noted, 

the EPA had requested that those CWA section 401 certifications be completed by June 30, 2012. You 

requested an extension for completion of your CZMA consistency review to that date. 

In order to enable you to fully and appropriately consider the results of the CWA section 401 

certification process in Georgia, the EPA is extending your time until July 16, 2012, for completion of 

your CZMA consistency review. By that date, you should either provide your concurrence with, or 

objection to, the EPA's national consistency determinations for the VGP and sVGP, respectively. If a 

reply is not received within that time period, the EPA intends to presume your concurrence. See 15 Code 

of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) § 930.41(a). The remainder of this letter responds with clarifications 

regarding a variety of matters in your February 9, 2012, letter. 

You indicated that the 60-day review period identified in the EPA's December 12, 2011, letter was 

based on the provisions of 15 C.F.R. § 930.35(c), which would only apply to a negative determination 

by a federal agency. Though the EPA letter did not identify the regulatory basis for the 60-day review 

interval, the EPA's reasoning was based on 15 C.F.R. § 930.41(a), which addresses state responses to a 

federal agency request for consistency review. Section 930.41(a) generally provides for a 60-day period 

from receipt of a federal agency's consistency determination, beyond which state concurrence may be 

presumed by the agency, absent a state extension request made in accordance with that regulation's 

provtswns. 

You also indicated that 15 C.F.R. § 930.36(b)(l) establishes a 90-day period for a state response to the 

EPA's national consistency determinations. That regulation, however, does not address state agency 

Internet Address (URL) • http://www.epa.gov 

Recycled/RQcyclable • Printe(J wrth Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 30% Postconsumer) 
responses, but rather a federal agency's time to submit its consistency determination to a state, 

specifically that such federal submission occur at least 90 days prior to final federal approval ofthe 

action unless the federal and state agencies agree to an alternate timeframe. By contrast, the time for the 

state response is governed by the provisions of 15 C.F.R. § 930.4l(a). 

It is important to all of us that we are able to take timely final action on the next VGP and sVGP, and 

completion of the CZMA review process is an important part of that. We look forward to working with 

you, and should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Marshall Hyatt of my 

staff at ( 404) 562-9304. 

cc: Ms. Linda MacGregor, Chief 

Watershed Protection Branch 

Georgia EPD 

Sincerely, 

James D. Giattina 

Director 

Water Protection Division